Port Wakefield Road


Port Wakefield Road and Port Wakefield Highway are an important Australian highway. They connect Adelaide, the South Australian capital, to the Yorke Peninsula, Port Augusta, northern and western South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. They are designated National Highway A1 and a part of the National Highway. They are named after Port Wakefield, the first government town north of Adelaide. Historically, the whole route was named Port Wakefield Road, however following the opening of the Northern Expressway, the route north of that junction was named Port Wakefield Highway.

Location

Port Wakefield Road branches off of Main North Road at Gepps Cross in the northern suburbs of Adelaide. The route is dual-carriageway for its entire length to Port Wakefield and bypasses all of the small towns along its former route. The original bypass of Port Wakefield is now built up with roadhouses and other businesses, leading to calls to build a new bypass further east.

History

In 2011 an upgrade including road widening of nine kilometres of Port Wakefield Road between Salisbury Highway and Waterloo Corner Road was completed as part of the Northern Expressway project.
In February 2020, the northbound ramp from Port Wakefield Road to the Northern Expressway was closed permanently as part of the final stages of opening the Northern Connector, the project name for the northernmost part of the North–South Motorway, a new freeway west of Port Wakefield Road, connecting the southern end of the Northern Expressway to the northern end of the South Road Superway. Northbound traffic to the Northern Expressway needs to use an earlier entrance to the North–South Motorway or join the Northern Expressway later via Waterloo Corner Road and Heaslip Road.
The contract for detailed design and construction of duplication of the highway through Port Wakefield and grade-separated intersection with the Copper Coast Highway was let in March 2020 to the Port Wakefield to Port Augusta Alliance, a consortium of CPB Contractors, Aurecon and GHD Group. This consortium is also responsible for the duplication of Joy Baluch AM Bridge in Port Augusta.

Major intersections

Towns

Port Wakefield Road passes through the northern Adelaide Plains. To the west of the road is the coastal fringe of upper Gulf St Vincent, including a number of fishing and holiday villages. To the east is rich cropping and farming land.
The list of towns on or near the road include: